Roman Reigns has become one of the biggest stars in WWE, but he first got his start on the main roster when he debuted as one third of The Shield. The group helped CM Punk retain his title at the Survivor Series premium live event in 2012, and Roman is now stepping up to challenge CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 42 this weekend.
Ahead of his big match with Roman Reigns on Sunday, CM Punk sat down with Corey Graves, and Graves asked The Second City Saint what his thoughts were on Reigns ahead of The Shield’s debut.
“He was with The Shield, and I remember sitting all three of those guys and saying like, ‘Okay, everything you’ve done up until this point doesn’t mean anything, forget about it. People don’t know who you guys are. I need you to go out there and make them never forget who you are.’ I went down the line and I asked each single one of them, ‘What is your goal? What do you wanna accomplish here?’ The first thing he [Roman] said is, ‘I wanna provide a life for my daughter.’
“I said, ‘Okay, bingo. You get it. But in order to do that, you’ve gotta leave your mark on this business, if you wanna be one of the greats, if you wanna make sure you can provide for your daughter and your family.’
“My initial impression of Roman was, he’s a second generation superstar who, upon face value maybe has what it takes. His spirit is gonna get tested, he’s gonna have to do things that I never had to, and that’s both good and bad. When your dad is a famous pro-wrestler, you will be afforded opportunities. You will also not have to, regardless of what anybody tells you, you will not have to grind to prove yourself.”